Thurston County boy attacked by pit bull recovering from two surgeries

A 4-year-old Thurston County boy who was attacked by his family’s pit bull Wednesday underwent two surgeries at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and remained in stable condition Thursday afternoon, his mother told The Olympian.

Alissa Evans, 29, said her son, Gavin Tobeck, has several broken bones including his jaw, cheekbone and the bridge of his nose. He also lost some baby teeth during the attack at their home in the 300 block of Trailblazer Street Southeast, near Lacey.

“He still has his vision,” Evans said. “…His nose was kind of damaged, but the plastic surgeons are miracle workers up here.”

Evans said the family adopted the dog, Smash, on March 16, from a friend of their neighbor. The 102-pound dog is a year and a half old. Although authorities earlier called it an American bull dog Evans said the dog is a “blue nose pit.”

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Thurston County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Cliff Ziesemer said the dog was seized by Thurston County Animal Services and will be euthanized “after they make sure rabies isn’t a factor.”

Evans said Smash was raised with kids, and had never bitten a person.

“He was just amazing,” she said. “He was just the biggest cuddle bug you could ever have.”

Evans said she and a friend were outside watching Gavin and Smash playing in the backyard.

She said she looked over and saw something that she’d never seen before: “The (dog’s) demeanor changed, and I saw it,” she said. She said the dog didn’t want to play anymore.

Evans said she reached over to try and prevent the attack, and Smash bit her and pushed her to the ground.

“That’s when he got Gavin,” she said.

Evans said she tried to get Smash away from her son, and her friend was finally able to get the attack stopped by dumping a cup of hot coffee at the dog, and kicking him. After that, they ran into the house, and called 911.

Even though it felt like an eternity, the entire thing was over in a manner of seconds, Evans said.

The mom said she didn’t go to sleep until Thursday morning when she got Gavin’s CAT scan results back. The tests showed that he didn’t suffer brain, spinal cord or internal injuries, she said.

“He might have to do one or two more surgeries on his nose,” she said.

Evans said people have criticized her and her family about the attack, even though they weren’t there, and don’t know what happened.

“I don’t hold this against the (previous) owner,” she said. “I don’t hold this against Smash. I don’t hold this against Gavin. It was just an unfortunate accident.”

Evans said she doesn’t want her son to be afraid of dogs. If they ever get another dog, they’ll do it differently, she said.

“I personally won’t rescue again,” she said. “I will raise it from a puppy.”